Defense's all isn't enough for Bucs Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times, published 23 September 1991 For a while Sunday, it looked as if the Bills were due, and the Buccaneers would reap the payoff. For a while. In a scenario that has become painfully familiar to Tampa Bay fans, Bucs defenders played hard and played well in Buffalo's 17-10 victory, but the Bills still found a way to hand the Bucs their fourth loss in a month of Sundays. "We definitely made enough plays to win, but what counts is what's up on that scoreboard on the end," said veteran defensive tackle Reuben Davis, part of a Bucs defense that has surrendered just 69 points in four weeks (17 per game). "We had a lot of up-and-down situations out there today, but it went their way. It's not really the same old song, but it's kind of getting hard right now. But I think we fought this time until the end. I don't think anybody out there really let down." If there was any letdown Sunday, it was all Buffalo's. With an undefeated record and a supposedly unparalleled no-huddle offense, the Bills looked ripe for the upset. Their 17 points were 20 below their three-game average, and much of their 421 yards of total offense resulted in no points. Despite the lack of bottom-line results, the Bucs' defense handled most of what the Bills' vaunted no-huddle threw at them. Opting for sideline hand signals rather than substitutions, defensive coordinator Floyd Peters' unit played a few mind games with Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly. "Where other teams go zone, zone, zone and watch them pick you apart, we got hand signals that put in blitzes and man-to-man calls," cornerback Ricky Reynolds said. "We went after them a little bit." "It was kind of wild, because it was like he wasn't supposed to get hit," Davis said. "(Kelly) had that look on his face, like, `This crap ain't supposed to happen. All I know is that if we played like that the first three weeks, those 10 points would have won us three games. I know everybody from the outside is going to take shots at us at 0-4, but we've got to stick together and be strong. Everybody said (the defense) would be the weak point of the Bucs, but it hasn't been that way. Buffalo came out thinking they were going to go right through us like butter, and we put a stop to that crap." Putting a stop to more than a few Bills Sunday was the newest Buccaneer - outside linebacker Jesse Solomon. Obtained Wednesday from New England in an immediately controversial trade, Solomon made Tampa Bay look wise against the Bills. Inserted into Kevin Murphy's strong-side linebacking slot on the Bills' second offensive possession, Solomon showed no signs of rust after a four-week walkout that began Aug. 21 while still a Dallas Cowboy. Whether in cross-field pursuit or stifling man-to-man coverage, Solomon turned in a team-high seven tackles and four assists. "This team has lost some close ballgames, so I just wanted to add a little extra punch and get us over the hump," said Solomon, who helped limit the Bills' Mr. Everything, tailback Thurman Thomas, to just two receptions for 19 yards and 54 yards rushing on 17 carries. "I got a little winded, but once I started playing every series, it felt like old times. The thing is, we played good enough to win. When you hold a Super Bowl team with a high-powered offense to 17 points, that's an accomplishment in itself. But we'd still like to have the W more than anything. We are going to pull these kind of games out eventually. It's just a matter of time. I would have loved for it to have been today, but we'll stay with it." Striking an equally hopeful tone in the Bucs' locker room was linebacker Broderick Thomas. Throughout Sunday's game, Thomas was the man in the middle of things. Whether helping stuff Bills fullback Carwell Gardner on the Bucs' third-quarter goal-line stand or coming inches shy of recovering a fumble by receiver Andre Reed, Thomas, for the second straight week, nearly always found the football. "People can't give up on us because we've been playing our asses off," said Thomas, who totaled four tackles and two assists. "We lost, we're 0-4, so we've got to be 12-4 now. We've got to go to Detroit and get busy and stay busy the whole 60 minutes. Like we did today. Lord willing, He'll bless us, because I don't know if I can take any more. We can't take no more. We're going to have to do it, if it takes us scratching, clawing, whatever."